Man Sent to Prison for Impersonating Officer, Forging Prescriptions

(Phoenix, Ariz. – Feb. 11, 2009) Attorney General Terry Goddard and Department of Insurance Director Christina Urias today announced that former Phoenix Police Officer Robert Edward Dziezynski, 33, of Mesa, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and seven years probation for impersonating a police officer and forging prescriptions to purchase narcotic drugs. He was also ordered to pay $77,350 in restitution.

In January 2008, Dziezynski pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating a peace officer, a class 4 felony, and one count of fraud schemes, a class 2 felony.

According to court documents, between August 3, 2007, and June 11, 2008, Dziezynski submitted 25 forged prescriptions for Actiq (also known by the generic name Fentanyl), a Schedule II Narcotic drug used for treating pain in cancer patients. He allegedly forged prescriptions by six different physicians and made them out to himself as well as his ex-girlfriend, father and mother.

While submitting the forged prescriptions, Dziezynski allegedly gained the trust of pharmacy employees by showing a police badge and saying he was an officer on the Phoenix Police Department’s S.W.A.T. team. While Dziezynski had been a member of the Phoenix police force from September 1999 to December 2002, his AZ Police Officer Standards and Training certification was revoked in May 2004.

One example of the stunts Dziezynski used to obtain the narcotics occurred on October 19, 2007, at a pharmacy in Gilbert. He gave a pharmacist a forged prescription for Fentanyl and told pharmacy employees that he spotted a person "known to steal Oxycontin" leaving the store. Dziezynski told pharmacy employees they needed to fill the prescription quickly so he could hurry to the parking lot to get the license plate number of the supposed Oxycontin thief.

On June 11, 2008, at a pharmacy in Mesa, Dziezynski presented a forged prescription for Fentanyl in his father's name and told the pharmacist that his father had lymphoma. The pharmacist recalls that Dziezynski became upset and had tears in his eyes while discussing his father's cancer. A few moments later, the store video showed Dziezynski smiling as he left the store with the bag of drugs under his arm.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Department of Insurance. Assistant Attorney General Beverly Rudnick prosecuted this case.